


Thirteenth Year on the West Side

by reader1718



Category: No Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-05 14:24:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3123443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reader1718/pseuds/reader1718





	Thirteenth Year on the West Side

Thirteenth Year on the West Side

Characters:

TONY WYZEK (takes the place of Cody): a thirteen year-old boy who discovers he is a merman

JASON ROBERTS (takes the place of Jess Wheatley): Tony’s nerdy ally

LINDA WYZEK (takes the place of Sharon Griffin): Tony’s mother

JACK WYZEK (takes the place of Whit Griffin): Tony’s father

CHRIS MARTIN (takes the place of Sean Marshall): Tony’s rival on the swim team

RIFF (takes the place of Sam (1st year)): Tony’s best friend and leader of the Jets gang

JOSEPH ROBERTS (takes the place of Mr. Wheatley): Jason’s father; tries to capture Tony’s mermaid mother by using Tony as bait (1st year); Tony’s ally (2nd and 3rd years)

MARIA NUNEZ (takes the place of Sam (2nd year)): sister of the Sharks leader Bernardo; She is interested in Tony by the 2nd or 3rd year

OTHER CHARACTERS:

ARIANNA (2nd year): another mermaid and friend of Tony’s

SKYLA (2nd year): another mermaid and friend of Tony’s

BRIAN (2nd year): another merman and friend of Tony’s

THE JETS GANG: gang led by Riff, Tony’s friend; rival gang to the Sharks

THE SHARKS GANG: Puerto Rican gang led by Bernardo Nunez; rival gang to the Jets

COACH STILLETI (2nd year): coach of the swim team for Tony’s school

Arianna’s mother

Skyla’s mother

Brian’s mother

Tony’s mother

1st year

2nd year

3rd year

  1. _

  2. _




  
  


One day, Joseph “Big Joe” Roberts was out on his boat, when he spotted the biggest fish he'd ever seen. He chased it for a long time, and it was so smart that he said he could swear it was half human. He later caught up to it and found out it was a MERMAID instead. He left then, telling the mermaid how pretty she was as he left. What he didn't know was that the mermaid had been carrying her baby son while he'd been chasing her, and that she'd left him on a boat to come back for him. In the meantime, the baby had been found by the Wyzek family, who owned the boat and they named him Tony. So, when the mermaid came back for him, he was gone. She had to watch sadly as her baby was adopted by the family and taken to live on land.  
  
THIRTEEN YEARS LATER...  
  
Tony was almost 13 years-old and he was ready to finally be a teenager because it meant that a lot of things would change for him soon. He was out on his parents' tour boat helping them try to get underway, but they weren't having much luck, as the engine had just blown. Tony was really worried because he would miss the big swim meet today if he didn't get done soon. Finally, his parents suggested he take the ferry. Unfortunately, he got there just as the last ferry left, so without thinking, he jumped into the water and swam the distance to shore--passing the ferry on the way! The ferry's passengers looked at him in astonishment as he passed them--no one should've been able to swim that! Tony emerged on the other side soaking wet, but on time for the meet. He'd joined the middle school swim team --the Sailfish--his first year, and he was one of their best swimmers. His parents had told him that he'd been swimming before he could even walk! He didn't win his race, but he came in second and their team still was going to the state finals. Then, the skinny sousaphone player from the band--Jason Roberts--fell into the pool. Tony was able to get him out, but the sousaphone wouldn't be playable again until it dried out.  
  
The next day at school, Tony got a bad grade--the latest in a series over the past several weeks. Their teacher announced that they'd be starting marine biology next, which prompted Tony to remark, “Squid and sharks and plankton--oh my!” sarcastically to Chris Martin. Chris was his opponent in yesterday's race and sat diagonally behind him in Biology class. Unfortunately, his teacher heard him and asked him what he'd said, so Tony made something up. His teacher had assigned them lab partners for a project that was a major part of their grade, and Tony ended up paired with Jason Roberts. Fortunately for Tony, Jason's hobby was marine biology, so they were pretty much guaranteed a good grade. What neither of them knew was that the project would lead to a strange discovery about Tony--one that would lead him all the way to the ocean.  
  


That afternoon was Tony’s birthday party. The next day, he would be an official teenager. His mom had made a fat free cake because she was a health nut and Tony’s dad changed the subject to avoid telling her how strange it really tasted. Tony went inside to get a drink of water and his friends from the Jets gang followed him. Tony went over to turn on the tap and got a small electrical charge. He thought nothing of it, though and went back to the party. Jason came by to bring him a birthday present and Chris immediately started making fun of him because he couldn’t swim. One of the other members of the team defended Jason, prompting Chris to comment that he’d heard nerds could float. Finally, after the party was over, Tony opened Jason’s gift—which turned out to be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. Tony didn’t feel any different, but that would change the next day, when he completely electrocuted his alarm clock when he tried to turn it off.

 

Tony went out to meet Jason at the beach near where he lived, and found the nerdy kid absorbed in looking in the tide pools, so Tony decided to scare Jason. He snuck up on him and put his hand on his shoulder, startling Jason and making him yell. Tony found this funny, but Jason didn’t. They got to work, Jason teaching Tony about the types of life in the tide pools, then having him look for seashells. Tony knew he was failing biology and offered Jason a deal: if he’d help him with Biology, then Tony would do whatever he wanted. Jason asked Tony if he’d teach him how to swim and Tony instantly agreed. He stuck his hand out to shake on the deal, but when Jason took his hand, he immediately cried, “Whoa! I’ve never seen anything like that before! Well, I have, but on frogs and lizards and stuff.” The things he was referring to were the scales that had suddenly appeared on Tony’s hands. Tony went home and tried to wash it off, but it didn’t come off, making him wonder what it was. His mother came to check on him and Tony nervously replied that he was fine. Finally, his mother left him alone. After he got out of the bathroom, his mother came back to tell him dinner would be ready soon. Tony kept his hands in his pockets so his mother wouldn’t see them, then when she was gone, took them out just in time to see the scales shrink back into his skin.

  
The next day at school, Jason inquired about how Tony's “condition” was. Tony replied that it must have been something in the water. They arranged to meet after school at Jason's place to work on the project, but Jason warned Tony that his dad was a bit eccentric. Tony was amazed at all the cool stuff Mr. Roberts had in his shed and looked at that before going off with Jason to finish the project. The next day at school, Tony began to notice he was extremely thirsty all the time and his arms and hands continued to become scaly when he got them wet, but only sometimes. Tony tried to tell his parents what was happening, but they didn't believe him. Finally, Tony's dad suggested letting the doctor look at Tony. This was the wrong thing to say to his wife, as she wasn't a big fan of modern medicine. So, she tried acupuncture on him. The next night, things got even stranger when Tony's hand got stuck to a wall in his room and he ended up on the ceiling like Spiderman! He called his parents in there to see it and they were completely in shock. Tony's mother finally agreed to let the doctor look at him and the doctor wound up diagnosing it as puberty.  
  
“Puberty! Can you believe it? All the other kids get hairier, but no, not me.” He stopped as Jason continued to flounder around in the pool. “Jason! You're in the shallow end.” Jason looked embarrased. “Oh right,” he said. “Look, I'm no doctor, but does this look like puberty to you?” Tony asked--holding up his scaly hand. Jason's eyes widened at the sight of the scales. So they wrapped things up at the pool, then went down to the dock. There Tony filled him in on what had transpired since Jason had last seen him. Jason agreed to run some tests to see if he could figure out what was happening to Tony. They met every day after school and Jason took samples of Tony's scales, timed him while he swam and even once had him light up a lightbulb from a box in his dad's shed. Riff and the other Jets became extremely curious as to what Jason and Tony were up to all the time and tried following them, but they couldn't figure anything out. Finally, one day the following week Jason told Tony he had a theory that was kind of a long shot, but it seemed like it might explain everything. So Tony met him at the school lab after class that day.  
  
“So, what's your theory Jason? You said it was a long shot. Do you know what's wrong with me?” Tony asked. “Maybe. I've been over all the data and it's led to one conclusion. You may want to sit down for this,” Jason said. Tony looked at him expectantly. “You may want a second opinion.” “Jason...” Tony said. “All right. I think you're a...mermaid,” Jason said. “A what!?” Tony balked. “A mermaid, or a merman,” Jason repeated. “A merman. People don't just become mermen. There's no such thing,” Tony protested. “I know. I've been over everything and I just keep coming back to mermaids,” Jason answered. “Okay, let's pretend you're not absolutely nuts for a second,” Tony said. “Okey dokey,” Jason said. “Let's say I am a...” Tony trailed off. “Fish boy?” Jason filled in. “...merman. I don't remember Ariel with this little ability,” Tony said--demonstrating his electric powers. “Eels. They generate the same electricity you do,” Jason replied. “This is crazy. I can’t be a merman. A month ago I was completely normal!” Tony balked. “There's only one way to know for sure. There's one thing that fish and merpeople can do that normal humans can't--breathe underwater. If you can't do that, then you're human. If you can, you're a merman,” Jason replied. So they went to the pool and Tony tried breathing underwater. To his shock, he did it, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was a merman.  
  
Tony went home that night and told his parents what was going on with his physical changes and the weird dreams he'd been having. “I dreamed I was underwater and I didn't have to hold my breath. I just found out today that the breathing underwater part isn't a dream! I can actually do it!” Tony said desperately. He didn't tell them about the woman in his dream yet. He wanted to take it one step at a time. “Tony, this is probably just a stage you're going through,” his mom said. “MOM! THIS IS NOT A STAGE!” Tony cried. “Tony, the doctor said...” Mr. Wyzek started. “THE DOCTOR WAS WRONG!” Tony shouted--going over to the sink. He ran his arm under the water until he got the desired result. “Sometimes when I get wet, nothing happens. But sometimes...” he said, holding up his scaly arm for his parents to see. “Oh my!” his dad said in astonishment. “Jason thinks I'm a merman and I'm starting to think he's right,” Tony told them. His parents decided to finally tell him the truth about finding him on their boat in the middle of the ocean. “So someone or something just dumped me on your boat and now thirteen years later I'm turning into a fish and no one can stop it?” Tony asked. His parents hastened to assure him he wasn't turning into a fish or a merman. Tony was just worried that the next time he took a bath he'd probably sprout gills and a tail. His parents made him promise to stay out of the water. But that was a promise Tony just couldn't keep.  
  
He went to the beach that night to sit and think, but instead ended up going for a swim. What he didn't know was that he'd been followed. Riff and the others had seen Tony run out of the house and had decided to see what he was up to. So they saw Tony taking a late night swim. They didn't see Tony meet up with the mysterious woman from his dreams, though. They did see both of them surface when Joe Roberts's boat came in sight, though. Joe was really excited to see that the mermaid was back. He started to laugh crazily when his binoculars picked up Tony with the mermaid. “Oh man! Who'd have thought that?” Mr. Roberts murmured. Tony finally came to shore, pulled on his shirt, and ran before Mr. Roberts could come after him.  
  
The next day, he was teaching Jason how to swim again when Chris came up. “Teaching the loser how to swim?” Chris commented as the Jets came up behind him. “What do you have against Jason, Chris?” Tony asked. “What do you have against Jason, Chris?” Chris mocked. “What do I have against him? He's not one of us.” “What are we exactly?” Tony asked. “We are the team, Tony. We're the guys everyone wants to be. The kind who don't have to wear water wings in the pool,” Chris replied. “Lay off him Chris. Jason's my friend. If you have a problem with that, deal with it,” Tony replied icily. “See you at the meet tomorrow,” Chris called sarcastically. “I'll be there, so try to keep up!” Tony called. “The meet tomorrow? Are you nuts? Don't you know what you're risking?” Jason asked him once Chris was out of earshot. “Don't you think I know? If I get in that water and turn into fish boy, I'm dead,” Tony replied. “So why would you risk it?” Jason asked. “Because I can't let this thing run my life Jason. Besides, I'll be swimming too fast for anyone to see me anyway,” Tony answered. He then left, leaving Jason to simply shake his head.  
  
The day of the swim meet came and Tony was stuck at home because his parents didn't want his secret exposed. He had decided to sneak out to the swim meet, but he had to wait until his parents quit checking on him for awhile before he snuck out the bedroom window. He made it in time for his race and Jason tried to talk him out of competing to no avail. Tony won the race and set a new state record, but his happiness was short lived. After his nighttime swim the night he learned of his adoption, Mr. Roberts had decided to keep an eye on Tony at the meet. So, he, Chris, and Jason saw the fins coming out of Tony's arms. Tony suddenly realized his fins had shown up, so he sent a massive electrical surge through a wire at the edge of the pool, which shorted out the scoreboard. This allowed Tony to make a run for it, but Chris ran after him into the locker room. He looked around, but couldn't find Tony, so he finally left promising that he'd find out Tony's secret--and that when he did, Tony was done for. He never thought to look straight up to where Tony was hiding on the ceiling.  
  
Tony ran out of the building to where his parents were waiting with the car. Once he got in, he was in big trouble with both of them. What Tony didn't know was that now Jason's father knew his secret. His fins took even longer to fade this time and for awhile everyone thought they wouldn't. According to Jason, people at the pool were talking about how Tony had shattered a state record and then disappeared. Fortunately, no one else but Jason had apparently realized what had happened. Finally, Tony's fins faded and he was able to go back to school the next day, but things got bad once he got there. Chris couldn't leave the issue of what happened at the meet alone and accused Tony of cheating. This started a fight between the two boys and Tony finally left after a teacher broke it up. He pretty much kept to himself after that, even avoiding talking to the Jets. He was afraid of what everyone would think if they found out the truth. The only person he really talked to was Jason, who was the only one who was still nice to him.  
  
One day, Tony was down at the beach staring at the ocean like he usually did, when he heard someone come up behind him. It was Jason. He was worried about him because he'd been so withdrawn lately. He realized immediately that Tony was worried that someone would alert the media or worse, so he comforted his friend. Tony then introduced Jason to the mermaid, whom he had realized was his mother. Just then, Tony felt a sharp pain in the lower part of his body. He fell to the sand, crying out as his entire lower body was in agony. “Tony, what's wrong? Do we need to get you to a doctor?” Jason asked. “Go get my mom and dad, and hurry,” Tony gritted out through the pain. As Jason left, Tony noticed his foot morph into a flipper.   
“What's happening to me?” Tony asked. He then heard someone come up behind him. “Jason?” Tony asked as a blanket was thrown over him. He didn't have the strength to struggle as he was taken to a boat and left on the deck. It was Mr. Roberts's boat and he claimed to be bringing Tony to shore. He took care of Tony, keeping him wet and making sure he was okay. What Tony didn't know, though was that Mr. Roberts was trying to catch his mother as proof that mermaids exist, by using Tony as bait!  
  
The Jets ran up to where the boat was and Mr. Roberts told them to stay with Tony. The boys ran back to where their friend lay and Riff started to move the blanket covering Tony's legs. “No,” Tony said, placing his hand on top of Riff's. Riff was confused. What did Tony mean by that? “I don't want you to see me like this. Please. If the wrong people know about this, my life is over,” Tony replied as if he could read Riff's mind. When Riff insisted on looking, promising Tony they wouldn't tell anyone, he finally relented and let them look. Boy was Riff surprised to see Tony's flippers where his legs should've been. “Whoa! Tony! Look at you!” Riff said in awe. “Help me get into the water guys. I'm changing fast,” was all Tony would say. Just then, Riff noticed the mermaid that was following the boat and that Mr. Roberts had a net hovering overhead. “What's he doing?” Riff asked. That was when Tony noticed the net and a feeling of dread filled him. “He's trying to catch the mermaid,” Tony replied. “How? Why?” Riff queried. “He has something she wants--her only child--and he wants to prove mermaids exist,” Tony replied. “Her only child? But who...?” Riff trailed off as he glanced at his best friend's legs (or where they once were) and realized exactly who he meant. “You're her child, aren't you?” Riff asked. Tony nodded and that was when they heard a shout from the shore. “TONY!” Tony instantly recognized Jason's voice and called back to him, trying to tell him what had happened, but Jason already knew. He had seen his dad rigging the net that morning, so when he'd come back with Tony's parents to find him gone, he knew what had happened.  
  
Just then, the mermaid came up next to the ship. Tony tried to warn her away, but it was too late. Mr. Roberts caught her in the net and Tony looked absolutely sick as he watched helplessly. Just then, Jason pulled out the knife he'd grabbed from his dad's boat that morning and jumped into the water, heading towards them. Tony couldn't believe it: Jason was swimming on his own with nothing holding him up! Jason headed for the net and began slicing through it, ignoring his father's command to get away from it. Soon enough, Tony's mother was free, but Jason's foot caught in the net, dragging him under the water. His dad saw this and forgot all about the mermaid out of fear for his son's life. Tony managed to haul himself over the side of the boat and into the water, where he immediately dove under, looking for Jason. He finally found him and rescued him, bringing him back to shore. His parents hauled first Jason, then Mr. Roberts, then the other boys out of the water, but Jason wasn't breathing. They tried CPR several times, but that did no good, until finally Tony had an idea. He told everyone to stand back and then administered a shock like that of an AED to Jason's chest twice, much to everyone's shock. It worked and Jason started breathing again. Finally, the Wyzeks saw the mermaid and realized she was Tony's real mother. The mermaid told Tony she wanted him to go with her and his adoptive mother agreed when she promised to have Tony back before school started.  
  
Tony told his adoptive parents he loved them, took his shirt off, and climbed into the water. “We'll miss you Tony. Come back to us soon,” Riff told him. Tony promised to be back soon and then headed off toward his mother. They joined their hands together and then embraced beneath the sea. Tony then leaped out of the water--his fully-formed tail glistening in the light--and dove back under again. A moment later, his head popped back up and he waved to his family and friends, who waved back tearfully. Then he dove again and was gone. “I finally get a friend and he turns into a fish. This is so typical,” Jason remarked. Everyone laughed and went back home to await Tony's return.

One day toward the end of July, Tony began heading back toward New York City. He'd already told his friends and family he was coming back, so some of them were waiting at the beach for him. Tony pulled himself onto the beach behind a large rock that concealed him from observers both on land and sea and put on the clothes his friends had brought him, watching as his tail turned back into legs. When he tried to walk, he nearly fell over, since he was used to swimming with a fish tail for many months. Finally, though, he managed to walk into town with them with no trouble and they went into Doc's store. Riff and the boys went for coffee while Tony and Jason looked around the store. Soon enough, a young Puerto Rican girl came up to Tony and said, “Hi.” They talked for a while and he found out that her name was Maria. He eventually figured out from the way she was looking at him that she was interested in him, and he had to find a way to dissuade her. He knew that once she found out what he was that she'd hate him, tell the media, or worse, so he was relieved when some old friends showed up. Their names were Arianna, Skyla, and Brian, and they were merpeople too. The four of them started talking about how things had been under the sea, being careful what they said, since they didn't know who might be listening.  
  
  
He still was on the swim team, but didn't go to practice any more for fear of someone seeing his fins again. His parents thought that he should stay off the swim team altogether, but he wanted to be in the water. He was really careful and no one noticed his fins. He tried everything to get Maria to not come after him, even talking to her brother. He spent more time with his merpeople friends, ignoring Maria, but she didn't get the message. He hung out at Doc's and eventually wound up telling Doc what he was, which Doc said was “interesting”. He also hung out near the ocean and went swimming a lot to help clear his head.  
  
One day, there was another swim meet and Tony snuck out to go again, against his adoptive parents' wishes. His fins appeared again and he had to pull another scoreboard diversion. What he didn't know was that Maria had come to watch the swim meet and had seen everything. She came to his house afterward and gasped when she saw Tony's fins. Then she fainted. When she awoke, she thought she'd been seeing things, but Tony was quick to assure her that she wasn't. She asked what was happening to him and he had to tell her the truth. She didn't believe him and ran out the door. She didn't actively pursue him after that, but several weeks later came to the beach, knowing she could find him there. They talked for awhile and Tony introduced her to his real mother. Then Tony clutched his lower body in pain and fell to the ground. Maria wanted to get him a doctor, but Tony instead called Jason and asked him to go get his adoptive parents quickly. Maria watched in awe as Tony's legs began to morph into a tail and his feet into flippers. She now knew Tony had been telling the truth. Just then, Jason came with both his dad and Tony's adoptive parents. They helped get Tony into the water and he swam off to be with his mother.  
  
The next year, toward the end of July, he came back again. He had all the exact same troubles as before and this time Chris found out what Tony was, as did Bernardo. Chris was okay with it and promised not to tell, but Bernardo thought Tony was a freak at first. Finally he realized how hard Tony had it with being different and was nicer to him. He didn't tell anyone Tony's secret either and helped cover for him sometimes. From then on, things were easier for Tony and he didn't have to worry about hiding his powers so much anymore. He still had to avoid the people looking for mermaids, but that was easier now that people knew what he was. Bernardo and Chris finally saw Tony change and go off to be with his mother again, knowing he would return next year.


End file.
